


Neighbors

by anna_sun



Category: SPN, Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Castiel is a writer, Dean is a chef/cook, Fluff, Love, M/M, Neighbors AU, Social Anxiety, Writer Castiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-23 14:23:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2550791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_sun/pseuds/anna_sun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel is the most awkward writer ever and Dean owns the family's restaurant. It's weird how they lived next door to each other for god knows how long and never talked, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Neighbors

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I didn't mean for it but it kinda looks like Castiel has social anxiety in this. At first I wanted to make him look awkward and all but it turned out... well like this. His character reacts the same way I probably would in some situations, but since it's an AU I don't care. Castiel isn't really Castiel. 
> 
> I portrayed him in a different way, too, because I'm used to write in Dean's pov, and you can probably see that (I guess the way Castiel describes things is chill and relaxed, the same way Dean would and i'm sorry for that). I tried so hard, tho. I'm not used to Castiel. 
> 
> Also you should remember that I am FRENCH so if there's any huge spelling mistakes feel free to complain about it in the comments.

The whir of the neighbor's air conditioner usually went unnoticed but today it was all Castiel could hear. The loud, repetitive 'humph' of it made him close his eyes more than once, dropping his pen on his desk each and every time. The sigh that escaped his lips after that felt like years of tiredness, and it's only then that he realized that he needed a good mattress, sleep, and food, but mostly to finish this goddamn chapter.

It wasn't fair. His job wasn't fair, the sun, who kept making his cramped, small living room hot and hotter by the second wasn't fair and the way his hand hurt because of how much he had written in the past hour wasn't fair, either.

He knew he could write directly on his computer, could make the process of this a lot more easier on himself, instead of retyping it all over again at the end of every book. He knew he could buy a cheap AC, save himself the trouble of cleaning every sweaty shirt he had by the end of a day spent sitting in a chair gone sticky, burning hot. But he loved the sound of a pen scratching against a blank paper too much, loved the truth of it, and if he couldn't handle the echo of his neighbor's AC, well he wouldn't stand 2 days with one of his own. It would also be a waste of money, and he couldn't afford that right now.

He was a simple guy, he believed he was. He never asked for much, never wanted too much money, he couldn't sleep with his socks on and he ate way too much mac and cheese on a daily basis in his lifetime. Yeah, maybe he didn't have many friends, maybe he was too close to his sister, Anna, and maybe he had a strange fear of dogs.

It wasn't his fault that this job didn't involve him having friends to hang out with on late and drunken Friday nights, never meant for Anna to be the only girl he would ever see naked in his whole, miserable life. He missed the days where running around without clothes on was a routine before bath time. When making friends only consisted of you both liking the same superhero. Sure, Castiel always had an inexplicable soft spot for villains in his early ages, and he smiled at the memory, content that there was still, at least, one thing that was the same about him (but really, you couldn't blame him for his super crush on Loki, Tom Hiddleston was just too great to look at).

It was strange to think that cute and young Castiel was loved by everybody, teachers and parents and kids. To think that Anna was once 'The timid one', the little girl that hid behind her red mop of hair during recess.

Because now Anna was drunk texting Cas almost every weekend, reminding him of how happy she was and how she wished he was happy, too. And Cas would always answer with his signature 'Stay safe x' text because what else could he do?

Life goes, people change and time passes in each blink of an eye, and maybe this, the whole writing adventure novels for a living was all that there was for him. God doesn't, never has any great and heroic purposes for anyone on this earth, especially not for Castiel, and what did he know about God, anyway?

It's only when he realized that he was questioning his faith, damn it, that Castiel shook his head and came back to himself, and to the awful, annoying sound of the AC running next door, making his wall shake and pencils roll on his desk.   

Castiel was a lot of things, but he wasn't a dick. Never had been, never wanted to be. And he believed that he was an okay neighbor. Yeah, okay, sometimes Michael Jackson was singing too loudly in the speakers of his radio station, but that happened rarely (only when he was cleaning up) and, most of the time when every normal person in the block was at work. And so he never partied, never made much noise, never complained, and his cat didn't do much but scratch the carpet, making it look more and more ugly and used as the years passed. 

Years. It had been years since he had left college, much more since he had said goodbye to high school, and he still felt like a child. When would he ever feel like he belonged? 

He rapidly got up of the chair, his head dizzy because of the fast movement and the hour and a half he had spent sitting on it growing on him and making his butt feel numb. He pulled up his sweat pants, and let his bare feet hit the cold, hard floor of the kitchen. 

Ice tea wasn't an half bad idea at all, Dallas had been so hot these past days that it was all Castiel could bear to drink. He missed coffee, but he still needed to get his mind off of Tessa and Chuck and the ogre (an Eolc, actually) they were currently fighting. He had written fighting scenes more times than he could count, starting when he was five and narrating the combats of his toys. He didn't understand why this one was so damned difficult, the words he kept writing (and scratching off soon after) never good enough, the story line feeling forced. 

 As he poured the golden liquid into his glass, he blamed his brain. Maybe he couldn't write anymore, maybe all of his imagination had burned to dust in the past year. And then he blamed his novel : maybe the story just wasn't good enough, maybe writing a fourth book for the series was pushing it, maybe the 'fans' were wrong. 

And, as his fingertips were ready to close the cap of the carton of Ice tea, he realized that he sure as hell couldn't do it with the immense distraction of the AC running. He surprised himself by pulling another glass from his cabinet and ignored his heartbeat and the voice in his head saying he should do anything but that. 

* * *

 He couldn't really be _shaking_ , was he? The faint movement of the ice tea in the glass he had in his hand was saying it all, but Castiel chose to ignore it. 

It wasn't like he didn't know the guy, even if it was almost the case. A couple of nods when you encounter each other in the stair case didn't really count as knowing, after all, but Castiel tried to make himself believe that it was no big deal. He was stressed out because he didn't like talking to strangers, to people, not because the man who lived next door was incredibly good looking. Not because he had this thing about him that made him look so confident and hot and sexy and the complete opposite of what Castiel saw when he looked at his reflection in the mirror. 

He felt like he was in high school all over again, and he hated it. 

'Hey, I really don't want to be rude, but your AC is kinda loud and usually it doesn't bother me at all, but today it's all that I can hear and I was just wondering it you could maybe shut it down for a while? I just need to finish my chapter and then I'll be golden. Also, I brought you a cup of ice tea because I feel bad asking you this in such a hot day.' 

Yeah, that worked. He could totally say that without puking, and the man would say something like 'Sure! Thanks for the drink.' and smile and Castiel would go back and finish his chapter and dream of that smile during the night. 

Everything was gonna be alright. 

He knocked on the wooden, antique door before he could change his mind again. 

He didn't hear anything for a while, and for a moment he thought that maybe the man wasn't home at all, but then he couldn't believe that someone would let the air conditioner running for that long with no one there to actually appreciate it. There still was a slight chance that he just had totally forgot about it, and Castiel hated himself for the way he was relieved that he didn't have to talk to anyone. He was such a failure to the human kind, he really was. 

His feet were turning around already, the floor complaining with a squeaky sound when he heard a muffled voice saying ''One sec!'' on the other side of the wall. 

The door opened a fraction of seconds later, and Castiel completely forgot the speech he had practiced oh so well before coming here when he had a look in the green eyes of his neighbor, now standing in front of him. Castiel had prepared his brain for the social situation that would happen, told himself that the fact that the guy was super intimidating was okay and that he could be actually really nice. He was prepared if he was the complete opposite, an actual douche bag who would react by saying something like ''Who do you think you are? I do whatever the fuck I want.'' and taking the glass of Ice tea, shattering it to pieces on the ground, but he never prepared his brain for this.

His neighbor was sweating, a thing that Castiel never thought he would ever find this hot, a tired look on his face. Nevertheless, the guy had a giant smile splattered across his amazingly beautiful features, his hair messy but in a way that made Castiel want to mess it up even more. 

It wasn't a surprise when he discovered that his mouth couldn't form any words in the moment. 

''Hey'' His neighbor said when Castiel didn't start the conversation right away, passing a hand across his shirtless torso and wow, okay, he couldn't imagine a world where he would answer the door shirtless looking that relaxed and happy. He swallowed the lump in his throat and opened his mouth to answer, the weight in his chest making it hard to talk, to breathe.  

''Hi'' He could only get out, his tongue passing across his lips to wet them when he realized that he should probably say something else, the intense eye contact that had been going on not helping at all. 

''You're the guy living next door, right?'' The guy asked before Castiel had a chance to compose himself some more. 

This was going horribly wrong, and so Castiel only nodded. Curiously, his neighbor didn't seem to decide Castiel was a real freaking weirdo. He only opened his door wide in a welcoming sign and said, 

''Okay, then come in. I have something on the stove and I need to stay beside it or else this whole place's gonna smell like shit for days. If it doesn't bother you?'' 

''No, no, of course not. I'm the one bothering you.'' Castiel managed to say, and even if it wasn't the best first impression a hot guy would have of him, well at least it was a complete sentence.

As soon as Castiel set foot into the apartment, the man was turning around and running towards the kitchen. Castiel figured he should probably follow, and oh no maybe he should stay beside the door because it's impolite to just follow people around in their home, right? He thought about just running away for a second, but then he heard,

''So, what brought you here?''

from the kitchen and he understood that that was his queue to come closer.

He blinked twice when he entered the kitchen area, figuring out where it was not difficult since this apartment was basically the same as his but reversed. The place was so messy that Castiel actually choked on air, and then tried to cover it up with a cough. Castiel's apartment wasn't so clean itself he must admit, but here there actually was what seemed like spaghetti on a wall and lettuce on the floor. And it was nothing compared to the dirty dishes all around the small counter. 

''Hum,'' Castiel started as he placed the glass he still had in his hand on a corner of the counter that wasn't occupied, ''I really don't mean to be rude and I completely understand if you say no, but your AC is kind of loud? And usually it doesn't bother me at all but today it's really difficult for me to concentrate and,'' Castiel stopped when his neighbor moved around, opening a drawer and getting a spoon out of it. ''And it would really help if you maybe shut it down for an hour?'' 

Castiel held his breath, waiting for an answer, and the guy only stirred whatever was in his casserole one more time before almost shutting down the stove and turning around, looking at Castiel in the eyes.

''Well, I mean I'm always ready for complaints about too loud music, but this has got to be a first'' He said in a laugh, and if Castiel didn't feel stupid before, well this was it. 

 ''You're right, I shouldn't ask for such things. I'm just gonna leave this,'' he pointed at the ice tea sitting on the counter ''here for you in a sort of apology and let you cook.'' Castiel tried his best, calmest smile and was about to turn around, to get out of there as soon as possible without any more embarrassment when the other man opened his mouth.

''No! I didn't say I wouldn't do it, I can totally shut it off for you. The heat from the stove was killing me before but i'm almost done, anyways. It's no problem.''

He smiled and Castiel had no idea what to say next, so he only nodded and whispered ''thanks'' under his breath as the guy started to walk him towards the door.

''I'm Dean, by the way.'' The guy, Dean, said when Castiel finally stepped out of the apartment.

''I'm Castiel,'' He could feel his heartbeat quicken when he looked at those green eyes once again. ''Thank you again, Dean.''

And Castiel was finally out, finally free. He had never felt better to turn his back on a stranger and to enter his apartment.

He let his back fall against the door as soon as it closed and cursed himself, promising to god and everything that was holy that he was never doing something of the sort ever again.  

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY THIS WORK IS CURRENTLY ON SOME KIND OF HIATUS because ao3 deleted all of my drafts and I can't bring myself to rewrite everything and so yeah i'm sorry


End file.
